Pneumatic safety system for vehicle lading

ABSTRACT

A system for protecting lading against endwise impacting in an ordinary side-loading vehicle body is achieved with movable panels positioned to engage the ends of the lading and with inflatable envelopes positioned to substantially simultaneously move the panels against the ends of the lading. The inflatable envelope means adjacent one end of the lading communicate with the envelope means adjacent the other end of the lading to provide that each envelope means serves as a pressure accumulator for the other envelope means when the lading tends to shift against the first envelope means. The panel is suspended from a fixed support by spaced elongated arms that provide for rocking and skewing of the panel at edge connections located at substantially mid-height of the panel. Bias means are provided which tend to deflate the envelopes and which are arranged to tend to exert oppositely-directed moments upon each panel about its mid-height pivot connections. One arrangement of inflatable envelopes operates to develop greater pressure against the portion of the lading below the mid-height pivot connections for the movable panel.

United States Patent Bertram [54] PNEUMATIC SAFETY SYSTEM FOR VEHICLELADING [72] Inventor: Leroy W. Bertram, Wheaten, Ill. [73] Assignee:Unarco Industries, Inc.

[22] Filed: Dec. 30, 1969 [21] Appl. No.: 889,141

[451 .luly4,l972

Primary Examiner-Drayton E. Hoffman Attorney-Norman Lettvin [57]ABSTRACT A system for protecting lading against endwise impacting in anordinary side-loading vehicle body is achieved with movable panelspositioned to engage the ends of the lading and with inflatableenvelopes positioned to substantially simultaneously move the panelsagainst the ends of the lading. The inflatable envelope means adjacentone end of the lading communicate 214/105 D with the envelope meansadjacent the other end of the lading p I14, B61d45/00 h h l 58 Field ofSearch ..l05/369 BA, 369 D, 369 s; at serves as a 296/24, 214/105206/D[G 30 cumulator for the other envelope means when the lading tendsto shift against the first envelope means. The panel lS 56] ReferencesCited suspended from a fixed support by spaced elongated arms thatprovide for rocking and skewing of the panel at edge connec- N E STATESPATENTS tions located at substantially mid-height of the panel. Biasmeans are provided which tend to deflate the envelopes and 1,963,5456/1934 Campbell et al ..105/369 D which are arranged to tend to exertoppositelydirected 2,856,867 10/1958 Dasey ...105/369 BA mems upon eachpane] about its midmeighl pivot connec- 3,145,853 8/l964 Langenbergm"105/369 BA tions. One arrangement of inflatable envelopes operates to3,160,] 18 12/1964 N BA develop greater pressure against the portion ofthe lading 3,192,879 7/1965 Pier ..l05/369 BA below the mid height pivotconnections f the movable 3,427,997 2/1969 Brown, Jr. et al. ..105/369BA paneL 3,427,995 2/1969 Stafford, Jr. ..105/369 BA 10 Claims, 9Drawing Figures \x \x\ \x\ a /////////////////M/ T AU HN N AMK N t/Pi ER/m SHEET 3 BF 4 Q Q Wx) Jfi/nfor:

Leroy l0. Ber/ram PATENTEDJUL 4 m2 m m //////////////////////Hfiyz////// //////////S(///// Q DI N I wfi hhw PNEUMATIC SAFETY SYSTEM FORVEHICLE LADING BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to animprovement in lading protection systems that include inflatableenvelopes for absorbing inertia forces developed by lading that iscarried by freight-carrying vehicles such as railway cars, trucks andthe like.

It has heretofore been proposed to use inflatable devices infreight-carrying vehicles for purposes of absorbing inertia forces ofthe lading in the vehicles. Brown et al. US. Pat. No. 3,427,997 reportssome of the early design suggestions using inflatable units and thendiscloses a variant design in which a bulkhead carries a pair ofprecisely-parallel freight-engaging panels that are moved by inflatablebags disposed between the bulkhead and panels and where the inflatablebags on opposite sides of the same bulkhead communicate their pressuresto each other. Stafford US. Pat. No. 3,427,995 discloses use ofweight-biased, freely-movable, panels, that are pressured by inflatablebags disposed against end bulkheads of a car, for engaging the ends oflading.

Attempts to provide freight-carrying cars with devices that useinflatable bags has resulted in greater and substantial redesign of thecars and bulkheads themselves, thus making the basic concept, of usinginflatable units for absorbing inertia forces, costly and expensive andproviding complexity where simplicity is sought and desired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is intended to provide animproved, simple and inexpensive lading protection system and componentstherefor utilizing inflatable bags, for absorbing inertia forces and forcompacting the lading in the vehicle, and utilizing existing designs offreight-carrying vehicles so as to inexpensively adapt existing vehicleswith pneumatic cushioning means for the lading carried therein.

Another object of this invention is to provide a lading-protectionsystem with pneumatic cushioning means with improved constructionalfeatures that cause the lading-protection system to more readily conformwith the physical fact that I greater forces are required to be appliedagainst the bottom of a stack of lading than against the top of thestack of lading in order to effect compacting of the lading and toeffect proper lading-conforming engagement of the panel with the stackedlading in the vehicle.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent asthe following description proceeds and the features of novelty whichcharacterize this invention will be pointed out with particularity inthe claims annexed to and forming part of this specification.

Preferred embodiments of the invention are shown in the accompanyingdrawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a top plan view of theinterior of a typical freightcarrying railway car equipped at its endwalls with an improved lading-protection system embodying features ofthis invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view taken on line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of one end wall of the car in FIGS. 1 and 2taken looking toward the end wall substantially from the rear face ofthe panel, and showing the features of arrangement of the inflatablebags, but with the inflatable bags omitted by showing them in brokenlines;

FIG. 4 is a view taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 3 and showing the movablepanel conforming to an end of the stack of lading in the vehicle;

FIG. 5 is a view somewhat similar to FIG. 3 but taken looking toward theback side of the movable panel in a combina tion where the panel isadapted for attachment to a movable bulkhead shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to F IG. 4 but is taken on line 6-6 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a top plan view similar to FIG. 1 but showing anotherconstruction of a typical railway car wherein the openings in the sidewalls of the car are not only offset but are closer to the end walls andwherein the inflatable bags are arranged vertically rather thanhorizontally as in FIGS. 1-6;

FIG. 8 is a side view similar to FIG. 2 but showing the car andinflatable bag arrangement of FIG. 7; and

FIG. 9 is a schematic view illustrating the inflatable bag arrangementof FIGS. 7 and 8 and the controls therefor.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to the drawings,FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate a well known form of railroad freight-carryingcar 10 having a floor 12, a roof 14, side walls 16 and 18 and end walls20 and 22. The side walls have offset door openings 17 and 19 whichprovide access to the interior of the vehicle. Movable bulkheads 24 and26 of the type disclosed in Vanderhyde et al. US. Pat. No. 3,168,055 areused in the vehicle 10 for abutting engagement and cooperation with oneend of sub-divided lading portions L and L The bulkheads have latch pins28 for cooperation with upper latch strips 30 and floor-mounted latchstrips as disclosed in said Vanderhyde et al. patent.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show the features of construction of the improvement forabsorbing inertia forces of the lading in vehicle 10 and for compactingthe lading therein, such as lading subportion L Spaced from the uprightwall-type member 20 is an upright lading-engaging panel 32 which islightweight compared to end wall 20 and may be made of lightweightframing and/or plywood. The panel 32 is of lesser width than the spacingof side walls 16 and I8 and of lesser height than the spacing betweenlatch strips 30 and floor 12, but the size of panel 32 is effective tohave the panels outer face engage substantially the full height andwidth of lading L, which is shown in the form of boxed goods resting onfloor 12. On the rear face of panel 32 adjacent each upright edge of thepanel is an elongated bracket 34 of U-shaped cross-section. Spacer-stops36 and 38 project rearwardly of panel 32 adjacent the upper and loweredges inwardly of the panel s corners and serve to space panel 32 aminimum distance from wall 20 so as to provide adequate space for thedeflated bags therebetween. The upper end of bracket 34 carries a pivotpin 40. The lower end of bracket 34 carries an attachment pin 42 towhich a retracting cable 44 attaches.

A pair of elongated support arms 46 connect panel 32 relative to endwall 20. Each arm 46 has its lower end positioned between the spacedlegs of the U-shaped bracket 34 and pivoted to pin 40. The upper end ofarm 46 is pivotly connected to a pin 48 that is rigidly mounted relativeto end wall 20, such as by securement to the legs of bracket 50 that issecured to the underside of a latch strip 30.

The pivot pins 40 are located at a substantially mid-height positionrelative to the height of panel 32. While pins 40 are aligned tosubstantially provide a single pivot axis, the length of arms 46 andspacing of pins 40 adjacent opposite edges of panel 32 is such as topermit skewing of panel 32 as it engages the end of lading portion L,.This is desirable as it permits panel 32 to conform to minor variationsin alignment of lading that are bound to occur in the loading of ladingin a vehicle.

Positioned between panel 32 and end wall 20 are two elongated inflatableair-holding bags 52 and 54 arranged so that their longitudinal axes liesubstantially parallel to the pivot axis through pivot pins 40 with thegreater portion of bag 52 spaced above pivot pins 40 and with all of bag54 spaced below the axis of pivot pins 40. The length of bags 52 and 54is less than the spacing of arms 46 so as to fit between said armswithout interference. The inflatable bags are of the type having a flatperimeter flange surrounding the inflatable portion of the bag. Theperimeter flanges are designated respectively at 52a and 54a. Bags 52and 54 are joined together by connectors 56 through overlapping flangeportions. The uppermost portion of flange 52a is apertured to receivehook ends of retraction coil springs 58 which are arranged to pulloutwardly so that their horizontal spring-force components balance eachother and their vertical spring-force components tend to pull the bagsupwardly and toward a collapsed position against end wall 20. The upperends of springs 58 are connected in any desired manner, such as bywelding, to the roof 14 or other fixed structure.

The cables 44 connected to pins 42 are each trained over a roller 60carried on end wall 20 and connect to a vertically disposed tensionspring 62 that is anchored by flange 63 to wall 20, and which biases thepanel 32 toward wall 20 tending to deflate the envelopes 52 and 54. Itwill be seen that the arrangement of springs is such as to tend toprovide balancing moments about the pivot axis of pins 40, with spring62 acting through cable tending to provide a counterclockwise momentabout axis 40, when viewed in FIG. 4, and the friction between bag 52and panel 32 under the tension of springs 58 tending to provide aclockwise moment about pin 40 that is spaced from the rear face of panel32 in the direction toward end wall 20.

The inflatable portions of bags 52 and 54 are connected respectively tobranches 66 and 68 of a tubular supply line, or hose, 64 for compressedair or other gas. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the supply line 64 isprovided with branches 64a and 64b leading to fittings 65 on theexterior of the opposed side walls 16 and 18 of the car. The fittings 65are of a type well known in the art and provide for introduction ofcompressed air or other gas into bags 52 and 54 and may be equipped withvalves to effect sealing or opening of the line 64 as desired. It isdesired that a greater pressure be developed in lower bag 54 than inupper bag 52. Appropriate valves or constrictions, of a type well knownin the art, are included in hose branches 64a and 64b to effect suchpressure differences.

In the form of device seen in FIGS. and 6, the construction issubstantially identical as in FIGS. 3 and 4 except that instead ofhaving a fixed end wall relative to which the panel 32 moves, there is amovable bulkhead B that panel 32 is attached to and moves relativethereto. The bulkhead B is of the type disclosed in Vander Hyde et al.US. Pat. No. 3,168,055 and is designed to receive dynamic forcesimparted by longitudinal shift of lading through panel 32, bags 52, and54, and transmit same forces thereagainst to the vehicicles frame whichis designed not only to withstand the static forces of the lading butalso the dynamic forces that occur longitudinally of the car when thelading therein tends to shift due to inertia.

Certain structural variations also will be seen in FIGS. 5 and 6. Thus,upper springs 58 are shown connected to the bulkhead B, and the upperends of panel-supporting arms 46' connect to brackets 50a that arecarried on bulkhead B. As an optional alternative construction, thelower springs 62 of FIGS. 3 and 4 are shown in broken lines to indicatethat they may be omitted, although if needed they would be mounted onbulkhead B as shown. In FIGS. 5 and 6 similar features are numbered withthe same numerals used in FIGS. 3 and 4, but variant elements areidentified by the reference numeral primed.

In FIGS. 7 and 8, another configuration of freight-carrying car is shownat 100 as including a floor 102, a roof 104, end walls 106 and 108 andside walls 110 and 112. Door openings 111 and 113 are provided in walls110 and 112 in longitudinally offset relation to each other with thedoor openings relatively closely adjacent the end walls. Each end wallhas a lading-engaging panel 114 adjacent thereto supported by elongatedspaced arms 116 that pivotly connect at their upper ends to brackets 118on the end wall and pivotly connect at their lower ends at substantiallymid-height of the panel 114. A pair of elongated inflatable bags 120 arepositioned between panel 114 and the adjacent end walls 110 and 112. Inthe arrangement of FIGS. 7 and 8 the bags are arranged longitudinallyvertically and the entire lading L is disposed between the pair ofpanels 114.

FIG. 9 illustrates a preferred arrangement of conduits in a rectangularconfiguration for disposition within the rectangular car of FIGS. 7 and8 for selectively and remotely pressurizing the inflatable bags orreleasing the pressurized air or gas therefrom. One three-position valvedesigned 122a with a position selector 124 connects to two conduits 126aand 126k on the near side of the car. The other three-position valvedesignated 122b with a position selector 125 connects to the same twoconduits on the far side and opposite end of the car. Conduit 126acommunicates with inflatable bags a through conduit branches 126a.Conduit 126b communicates with inflatable bags 120b through conduitbranches 126d. The air-entry connectors are designated as 1280 and 128bto which a compressed air hose may be connected as is well known in theart. With selectors 124 and in their normal positions shown in fulllines at 124a and 1240, the valves are closed and no air passes eitherinto or from valves 122a and l22b. With the air hose attached at 128aand by swinging selector 124 to the right-hand position at 124b, airpasses only to the distal bags 120a through conduits 126a and branches1260. When selector is swung to the left-hand position at l24c, all bagsare inflated at the same pressure. After inflation of one set or bothsets of bags 120, the selector is returned to the closed position 124aand the air hose is disconnected from the air-entry connector 128a. Thepressure in bags 120 is maintained as long as selectors are in closedpositions 124a and 125a. With the air hose disconnected, movement ofselector 124 to position 124b operates to release the pressure in thedistal bags 120a, while movement of selector 124 to position 1240operates to release pressure from all bags 120. The three-position valve122b on the opposite side of the car performs the same operation asvalve 122a with position 125a preventing passage of air either into orfrom valve 122b, position 125b allowing passage of air either into orfrom distal bags 120b, and position 1250 allowing passage of air eitherinto or from all bags 120.

One valve is provided adjacent the respective entrances I11 and 113 inthe opposite side walls, so that an operator may control allpressurizing from only one position on either side of the car.

Considering the operation of the system in FIGS. 7-9, with a car fullyloaded with lading L and all bags 120 inflated so as to pressurize thepanels 114 against the ends of the lading, when the operator opens thedoor at opening 113, he turns selector 124 of the adjacent valve 122a toposition l24c. This releases the pressurized air from the air bags 120at both ends of the car, and panels 114 retract from lading L such asunder bias of the spring means as disclosed in FIGS. 3 and 4. It is thenpossible to unload the lading which preferably is carried on pallets orloading racks. Rack loading is frequently used for shipment ofautomobile parts. When compacted to eliminate voids between adjacentracks, the entire rack lading, such as I tends to shift as a unit whenthe car is impacted. Such rack lading, or palletized lading, is confinedto the vertically projected confines of the rack or pallet structures.After the entire lading is removed, the unloaded pallets or empty racksare reinserted into the car and the panels 114 are repressurized to thepositions in FIGS. 7 and 8 and the car is ready for safe returnshipment.

In loading a car, one starts with the envelopes or bags 120 fullydeflated and panels 114 retracted. The selector 125 of valve 12211 atthe opposite side at the far end of the car is moved to closed" positionat 125a. The loaded racks or pallets are then loaded through the opendoor tightly against the far panel 114. After loading all racks, acompressed air hose is attached to nipple 128a and selector 124 of thevalve 122a adjacent the open door is moved to far position at 124k. Thebags 120 at the far end of the car then inflate and press the ladingtoward the left. When the left-hand end of lading L is about 7 inchesfrom the left door post of the car, selector 124 is moved to bothposition at 1240 thus also inflating the bags 120 at the near end of thecar and so that the inflated bags cause the panels to substantiallysimultaneously engage the ends of the lading L When the bags have beeninflated to the desired pressure, the selector 124 is moved to closed at124a, and the air hose is disconnected. The car door is closed and thecar is then ready for shipment. The conduits serve to communicate thepressurized air or gas in the envelopes at opposite ends of the car, orlading, to each other, so that one set standard one requiring no specialconstruction, there are no overhead-supported bulkheads, and thus norolling parts, carriages, tracks or keepers may become mis-aligned.There is less cost, less added weight, less maintenance, and easyreplacement of damaged panels or inflatable bags. The air pressure isequalized at both ends of the car and load is always cushioned at bothends.

In the movable panel arrangements disclosed in FIGS. 34 and 5-6, thestructures when applied at the ends of lading subportions provide bothfor endwise pressurizing of lading to apply forces that act to preventtransverse shifting of the lading and also for pneumatically absorbinglongitudinal inertial forces caused by impacting the car at excessivespeeds. The suspension of the panel provides that it will float,"tending to adjust to unevenness at the end face of the lading. The panelis pivotabl'e or rockable about a horizontal axis at substantiallymid-height to adjust for vertical misalignment into a plane or attitudeinclined to vertical, and the spaced arms which hold the panel permitsome skewing of the panel for adjusting to mis-alignment in a directiontransversely of the lading.

Preferably the bags are interconnected and pressurized so that the lowerbag exerts greater pressure than the upper bag, so as to produce greaterforce through the movable panel against the lower part of the lading, asis frequently required with dense shipments in cartons such as obtainedby canned goods. The variance in pressure is desirable in compacting thelading, but once the lading is compressed the air pressure evens out inthe bags to provide a maximum cushioning effect.

While there has been shown and described a particular embodiment of thisinvention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that variouschanges and modifications may be made therein without departing from theinvention and, therefore, it is intended in the appended claims to coverall such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit andscope of the invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is:

1. An improved system for safely shipping lading in a railway carprovided with two spaced end walls and two side walls each with anaccess opening therein, said system comprising, in combination: aplurality of confined ladings of a size to be entered or removed fromthe car through the access opening and arranged to abut and engageadjacent confined ladings to provide effectively a continuous palletizedca'r loading with substantially no space between adjacent ladings, eachend wall of the car having an associated movable, upright panel adaptedto be forced tightly against one free end of the continuous palletizedcar loading, inflatable envelope means between each panel and itsassociated end wall, means for pressurizing the inflatable envelopemeans to cause the oppositely facing movable panels to tend to movetoward each other to substantially simultaneously engage the ends of thepalletized car loading, conduit means communicating the pressurized gasin the envelope means at opposite ends of the car so that each suchenvelope means provides a pressure-accumulator, or reservoir, for gasdisplaced from another envelope means upon occurrence of the event oftendency of the palletized load to shift longitudinally in the car, andthe panel being attached relative to the end wall by a pair of spaced,elongated, support arms each pivotly connected at one end thereofadjacent one upright edge of the panel and providing only two spacedpoints of pivot connection to the panel that pemiit the panel tocompensatingly skew slightly relative to the end wall and permitting thepanel to adjust to unevenness of the end of the lading both verticallyand in a direction crossway of the width of the vehicle.

2. A system as in claim 1 wherein the pivot connection between thesupport arms and the panel is a horizontal axis located at substantiallymid-height of the panel so that the panel may rock about said axis tovertical misalignment at the end to adjust to the lading.

3. A device as in claim 2 including biasing means operatively associatedwith the lading-engaging panel and inflatable envelope means to exertforces tending to deflate the envelope means and force it against theend wall and arranged so as to apply to the panel oppositely directedmoments about the mid-height pivot axis.

4. In a device that uses inflatable envelope means for cushioning thetendency of lading to shift longitudinally of the direction of movementof a lading-carrying vehicle whose frame is designed to withstand thestatic and dynamic forces developed by the lading therein, theimprovement comprising, in combination: an upright wall-type member inthe vehicle, serving as a member for receiving and transmitting forcesthat are applied longitudinally of the vehicle to the vehicle s frame;an upright lading-engaging panel attached to and supported from saidwall-type member and arranged to move toward and away from saidwall-typemember, pressurizing means including a plurality of inflatable envelopesincluding means to intercommunicate the pressures therewithin anddisposed between the wall-type member and said lading-engaging panel, toboth provide pressure means for selectively forcing the lading-engagingpanel against one end of lading in said vehicle and for absorbing andtransmitting forces applied to the lading-engaging panel resulting fromtendency of a load to shift longitudinally of the vehicle, and theattachment of the upright panel to the wall-type member including onlypivot connections at substantially the mid-height of the panel whichpermit the panel to incline relative to a vertical plane and to adjustto vertical misalignment at the end face of the lading.

5. A device as in claim 4 wherein the wall-type member is a permanentend wall of the vehicle.

6. A device as in claim 4 wherein the wall-type member is a bulkheadarranged to move longitudinally within the vehicle.

7. A device as in claim 4 wherein two elongated inflatable envelopes areprovided between the wall-type member and the lading-engaging panel withthe longitudinal axes of the two envelopes spaced one above and theother below said substantially mid-height pivot axis of the panel.

8. A device as in claim 4 wherein the panel is attached to the wall-typemember by a pair of elongated support arms, that are spaced apart adistance greater than the width of the inflatable envelope means andsaid envelope means being located between said support arms.

9. A device as in claim 4 wherein the mounting of the panel includesmeans that permits skewing of the panel for adjusting of the panel tomisalignment of the end face of the lading in a direction transverselyof the lading.

10. A device as in claim 4 including means in the intercommunicatingmeans for developing difi'erent pressures in different ones of theplurality of inflatable envelopes.

1. An improved system for safely shipping lading in a railway carprovided with two spaced end walls and two side walls each with anaccess opening therein, said system comprising, in combination: aplurality of confined ladings of a size to be entered or removed fromthe car through the access opening and arranged to abut and engageadjacent confined ladings to provide effectively a continuous palletizedcar loading with substantially no space between adjacent ladings, eachend wall of the car having an associated movable, upright panel adaptedto be forced tightly against one free end of the continuous palletizedcar loading, inflatable envelope means between each panel and itsassociated end wall, means for pressurizing the inflatable envelopemeans to cause the oppositely facing movable panels to tend to movetoward each other to substantially simultaneously engage the ends of thepalletized car loading, conduit means communicating the pressurized gasin the envelope means at opposite ends of the car so that each suchenvelope means provides a pressure-accumulator, or reservoir, for gasdisplaced from another envelope means upon occurrence of the event oftendency of the palletized load to shift longitudinally in the car, andthe panel being attached relative to the end wall by a pair of spaced,elongated, support arms each pivotly connected at one end thereofadjacent one upright edge of the panel and providing only two spacedpoints of pivot connection to the panel that permit the panel tocompensatingly skew slightly relative to the end wall and permitting thepanel to adjust to unevenness of the end of the lading both verticallyand in a direction crossway of the width of the vehicle.
 2. A system asin claim 1 wherein the pivot connection between the support arms and thepanel is a horizontal axis located at substantially mid-height of thepanel so that the panel may rock about said axis to verticalmisalignment at the end to adjust to the lading.
 3. A device as in claim2 including biasing means operatively associated with thelading-engaging panel and inflatable envelope means to exert forcestending to deflate the envelope means and force it against the end walland arranged so as to apply to the panel oppositely directed momentsabout the mid-height pivot axis.
 4. In a device that uses inflatableenvelope means for cushioning the tendency of lading to shiftlongitudinally of the direcTion of movement of a lading-carrying vehiclewhose frame is designed to withstand the static and dynamic forcesdeveloped by the lading therein, the improvement comprising, incombination: an upright wall-type member in the vehicle, serving as amember for receiving and transmitting forces that are appliedlongitudinally of the vehicle to the vehicle''s frame; an uprightlading-engaging panel attached to and supported from said wall-typemember and arranged to move toward and away from said wall-type member,pressurizing means including a plurality of inflatable envelopesincluding means to intercommunicate the pressures therewithin anddisposed between the wall-type member and said lading-engaging panel, toboth provide pressure means for selectively forcing the lading-engagingpanel against one end of lading in said vehicle and for absorbing andtransmitting forces applied to the lading-engaging panel resulting fromtendency of a load to shift longitudinally of the vehicle, and theattachment of the upright panel to the wall-type member including onlypivot connections at substantially the mid-height of the panel whichpermit the panel to incline relative to a vertical plane and to adjustto vertical misalignment at the end face of the lading.
 5. A device asin claim 4 wherein the wall-type member is a permanent end wall of thevehicle.
 6. A device as in claim 4 wherein the wall-type member is abulkhead arranged to move longitudinally within the vehicle.
 7. A deviceas in claim 4 wherein two elongated inflatable envelopes are providedbetween the wall-type member and the lading-engaging panel with thelongitudinal axes of the two envelopes spaced one above and the otherbelow said substantially mid-height pivot axis of the panel.
 8. A deviceas in claim 4 wherein the panel is attached to the wall-type member by apair of elongated support arms, that are spaced apart a distance greaterthan the width of the inflatable envelope means and said envelope meansbeing located between said support arms.
 9. A device as in claim 4wherein the mounting of the panel includes means that permits skewing ofthe panel for adjusting of the panel to misalignment of the end face ofthe lading in a direction transversely of the lading.
 10. A device as inclaim 4 including means in the intercommunicating means for developingdifferent pressures in different ones of the plurality of inflatableenvelopes.